The Highs & The Lows.

These last few months have been a rollercoaster, full of high highs and low lows.

I released my 3 song EP called "The Life EP" on October 27th and it took sooo much to get everything in order to make it happen! This is the 4th project I've released on my own and I really went for it this time (and still going after it for that matter!)

Here's some of the High's:

- With the help of my friends Sara Castro, My husband Brett and my friend Elizabeth Hosford, I've been able to make custom merchandise pieces that I LOVE like coffee mugs, Coloring Pages, T-shirts and Water color Hand Lettered Lyric Art!

-I've played many awesome paying gigs and have made some really great connections and friends through them! The paying gigs have paid for things like my Coffee + Jesus Owl Mugs and T-shirts and a recording of a new song that has a LOT of promise!

-At those shows I sold out of physical Copies of Out of the Woods and Songs for Healing! I'm hoping to get more printed of those 2 CD's soon! The songs on those CD's are some of the "musical meat" that I usually play in my live shows.

-I signed with an awesome Music Licensing company that finds music for TV and Film with a possible Commercial spot in Europe for Mom Life in the works!!

-I released 2 Music Videos: Mom Life, which went semi-viral with 340 shares and over 38.4k views and a bunch of comments about how people are resonating with the song! Let me tell you, THAT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME to know people are resonating with something I have written! Especially something as honest as Mom Life.

I also released The Good Life on Thanksgiving day and it turned out SO beautiful. The scenery and imagery captured the song really well and I felt super happy to be able to release it on Thanksgiving.

-I wrote an amazing follow up song to Mom Life, Called "Thrive" recorded it & made a "day in the life" video of it. Still finishing that one up and it should be released in January! I think this is one of my favorite songs that I've ever written and it's really raw and captures an emotional snapshot of where I am in my mom life right now. I'm really trying to find the balance between Surviving and THRIVING. It's not easy most days, but I'm figuring out it's just a season and I can make it!

-I emailed at least 1000+ music contacts and mom bloggers and got a few emails back! I heard back instantly from a few bigger Mom Bloggers and some smaller ones that Featured the Mom Life Music Video. I heard back from 2-3 music bloggers. It's hard to break in to the music blogging scene because they hear from so many people in a day, so to hear anything back is a miracle!

-I won the opportunity to play Mom Life for a professional songwriter and Music Publisher in Nashville and they loved it! The feedback from that session, REALLY got me thinking about the way I write and how I want to move forward in this business.

-I've bumped into people literally in the grocery store, on Instagram, at church or just friends who have told me how my music has resonated with them and it reminds me why I'm doing this.

-I recently met a guy working at Guitar Center that is a Recording Student and offered to give me a 4 hour session in the studio FOR FREE! It happens to be near San Fransisco and I scheduled it for a time when we are going to be in San Fransisco for a family trip anyways! Such a Devine moment because I've been wanting to record a specific song and get a more professional vocal on Thrive, the new song I'm working on!

The Lows seem dumb compared to all the good happening, but I think they are worth sharing.

As a creative it's SO EASY to be a perfectionist and get upset when things don't happen just the way we planned them. SO many things did not go as planned with this project, but in a strange way I think it was good for me! I had to Trust God in a way I never would have if things just worked perfectly.

I had little to no budget to work with on this EP and the fact that it was fully funded along the way is a MIRACLE. I couldn't have made that happen, in fact I tried to make it happen on my own so many times and FAILED MISERABLY. Yet these seemingly random opportunities would present themselves RIGHT at the moment I had need of them. I KNOW that isn't an accident! Just because all that breakthrough happened, doesn't mean it was easy to walk through though. I cried A LOT. I prayed A LOT. I questioned A LOT.

I currently find myself in the place of "What's next?". I released everything, now what? I don't want the buzz from this project to die off. I still want to make a music video for 20 Years From Now. I feel like there are more opportunities, but I don't know what door to knock on...

I just heard Eric Johnson say this quote at my church that I thought was perfect for where I find myself..

"When God closes one door He opens another, but it can be Hell in the hallway."

I am in the hallway, knocking on doors. I'm not where I'm supposed to be yet and it gets discouraging knocking on doors with no answer, but I've gotta keep trying.

I get choked up every. single. time. I sing a line in my new song Thrive that says:

"These dreams in my head, they seem too big, but I cannot give up on them yet.."

I can't give up. I want to give up. The discouragement swallows me up sometimes.. But I know these songs aren't just for me to sing to myself, but that they were given to me to give out, to encourage others where they are at.

So I combat the voices that tell me to quit. It's not easy, but it's so good. My faith is growing everyday and songs swell up in my heart in these moments and I know all the pain and wrestling isn't the end of the story.

The thing I'm realizing right now is how much God is working behind the scenes on my behalf. I wasn't aware of it for a long time and I think it sort of made me stressed out and made me think I had to make it all happen on my own. I'm realizing I don't have to be SO STRESSED OUT because I'm working hard, praying harder and HE'S working it all out behind the scenes. I can't even tell you how many times I've been on the other side of an impossible situation and thinking, "WOW. HOW DID I GET HERE AND HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!?!" 

SO I'll TRUST even when I can't see. I won't let fear lead me, but FAITH. I'll Trust Him in the Highs and the Lows.

The Life EP Release Show 10/27/17

I wanted to write a little recap of The Life EP Release Show that happened on my Birthday October 27th!

The day of the show was a WHIRLWIND.

I prepped like crazy ahead of time to make sure everything was ready. From the order of the Show, to Set Lists (I played 3 mini sets!), to the photo booth props, to making sure the video stuff ran well (projector, screen, videos from directors and more), to merch set up, to marketing on social media, to printing flyers, printing business cards and the cute little coloring pages for the kids! And SO much more.

It was QUITE the undertaking, on top of doing mom life and just LIFE in general! The day of the show I felt that sick, tingling feeling in my nose and I was like "REALLY?! TODAY OF ALL DAYS?!" I persisted and took cold meds, nose spray, tea and tried to take it easy on my voice. Me and Jesse ran through our set lists that afternoon and I felt like, "hey I can do this!" I got my makeup on, dressed up in my Lularoe dress from The Good Life music video and Brett packed up 2 cars full of sound equipment, merchandise and decorations.

I felt that nervous feeling building in my stomach like "Can I pull this off to the extent that I planned?! Will people even come?!?!" I REALLY wanted it to go how I envisioned it, but it's never guaranteed with an event like this, so I just kept moving, and pushed the thought away.

 I tell you all of this to REALLY show the behind the scenes of something like this! The show is just the tip of the iceberg. It takes a ton of prep and planning to make a show like this run "Successfully"! 

Here was my order for the Show. My Mom hosted which was really fun to bring someone else in (instead of just me) to guide the show. My mom also ran the merch table, Brett did the video stuff, Marco ran sound and my sister Amy watched my kiddos! It was a team effort for sure. 

***Order of Show***
*Heather Introduce Kevin*
-Kevin Schlereth
-VIDEO (Story about The Life EP)
-Heather plays 3 songs
-MOM LIFE MUSIC VIDEO
-Q&A VIDEO with Pete
-BAND plays The Life EP
-THE GOOD LIFE MUSIC VIDEO
***ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF RAFFLE***
-Introduce Heather and Jesse
-Heather and Jesse Play
 (LOOP VIDEO’S at the end or Photos..)

We Set up The Fig Tree for the show. We hung vintage lights behind us, set up a photo booth area, set up a really fun merch area, rearranged chairs and even set up a coloring area for the kids! I did all I could do to make the show awesome and I prayed people would come. I felt like the night wasn't going to just be about me (I kind of hate things being about me anyways!), but for someone else who had dreams in their heart that they didn't know how they were going to do it and I'd be able to speak into that dream and help it grow through my story. I was really expectant of what was going to happen!

As it got closer to show time, the Cafe started filling up with all of the faces of people who had spoken into my dream and the people I'd met along the way! My fear turned quickly to JOY and Gratefulness seeing their faces!

My Touring Friend Kevin Schlereth along with his back up singer Jay and Kevin's family were also in town and opened the show! It was THE BEST having him there. He has been really encouraging to me over the years with my music journey and is also an incredible performer!

Then Me and Jesse played 3 songs, that sort of took me off guard on how emotional I felt singing those old songs! I think because they were songs that LED to where I am today. I wrote them coming "out of the woods" of depression during a really rough season after losing our 1st baby, then also after having a nightmare pregnancy, delivery and recovery with Trust. I felt like I'd never be well enough to play music again and these songs came out of that time. 

I played the Wall 1st with Jesse on Drums and Hayane on Violin, and it says "You come tell me 'have faith in what you can't see', when I'm too focused on the things that try to break me, and you come sweetly, and I'm so humbled, oh God you love me, you bring life back to these Eyes..."

Then I played Awaken Me, a song that literally WOKE me up from the season of Depression I was in after losing our first baby. I added a part at the end that says "It's time to live, it's time to dream, it's time to lift up your weary head, time to lift up your weary head.." and as I sang it, I felt like there were people sitting in the room who had dreams in their heart that this song was for! Like God was waking them up! I sort of spoke out to those people I felt like it was for in the moment and felt VERY moved emotionally as I flowed into the song Ordinary that says "She thinks she's ordinary but I think she could change the world, change the world." Not only did that line move me again, I saw it moving others as well! I looked out and met eyes with specific people I felt like the song was for and KNEW it wasn't just a song for me, but a call for others too!

THIS is why I LOVE doing music. I get so insecure preparing for something, but at the end of the day, it's NOT ABOUT ME. It's really about making those heart connections with people through the music. When I just SING and let go of all my control, fear and doubt, that's when the breakthrough comes!

Next, we did the Premiere of the Mom Life Music Video and it was a blast to see everyones reactions! From laughing, to nodding in agreement with the video, to happy crying at the ending! I'm so glad I was able to share it with my close friends and family first! Pete King my buddy who directed it even sent a little Q and A video we showed after the music video too. Here's the Mom Life music video if you haven't seen it yet:


Next I played with a mini band the songs on The Life EP! Aaron was on Bass, Jesse was on the Drums, Hayane was on the Violin and of course I sang and played Acoustic Guitar. IT WAS SOOOOO FUN playing with a band! It definitely gave the songs a fuller sound and we had a lot of fun practicing for the show as well. Grateful they agreed to play with me! My favorite part of the band set was when everyone sang along at the end of The Good Life!! "This is our life, this is our life, we're living the good life.."

After the band section of the night, we Premiered The Good Life music video! It'll Officially be released in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout for it!

My Mom did a great job hosting the night and we had a fun raffle for some merch! She also ran my Merch Table and made it pretty :)

Me and Jesse Finished out the night with some songs that were a blast from the past like "The Driving Song", "Over You" and some new songs about turning 30, "This is my Time" and "Be Patient with Me" 

I felt so LOVED that night! I'm so grateful for each person that came and all the people that encouraged me along this journey! I know that this release is only the beginning and I can't wait to see what happens next!! 

Be sure to follow along on all my social media to see what I'm up to and check out The Life EP on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and more!!

The Good Life - Behind the Scenes and Wrapping up The Life EP

We had so much fun shooting The Good Life music video with our friend Sergio Perez and his family! They have 3 girls that our kids love. They showed us their cute little chickens and we shared marshmallow's with them after we were done shooting the video. :)

Sergio took us to a REALLY gorgeous secret spot on his property that ended up being part of the scenery for the video. There is a big pond & I played my guitar out on the water on a really pretty white paddle boat. I was a little nervous that I would fall in the water with my guitar, but I did it gracefully without any typical "Heather moments". Haha!

We also made a little campfire and got some shots of Me and my husband and the kids eating marshmallows and snuggling in a quilt my great grandmother made.

A few days later we went to a creek and I made little origami boats that we raced and of course we got into a splash fight! We played for a while in the creek with Sergio's family and on a nearby playground! I love that they have become some of our good friends through this.

Me and my amazing husband also went back to the magical spot where we shot The Good Life music video to get some promo photos and also some Story Behind the Songs video. I'll be releasing those one at a time to hopefully keep some interest up!

Here's some sneak peeks of some of those photos:

I also got all the MASTER TRACKS for The Life EP from Jeremy Edwardson at Sound House Studios!!! It's been such a crazy, fun, hard, exciting journey!! I can't believe that it's almost done!!!


The next steps for The Life EP is:

-wrap up artwork for the EP (I've been sort of indecisive about it, but I think I've finally landed on my idea!)

-order physical copies of The Life EP

-Get it distributed online to iTunes, Spotify, Amazon & more

-Plan the EP Release show on October 27th (My Birthday!) at Fig Tree Coffee in Roseville, CA

-Get merchandise that is really unique and cool (I'm so excited about this!!)

-sending The Life EP out to all the media

-create a buzz (with the help of my amazing friends & fam!)

-create a timeline on how to release the videos, lyric posts, story behind the songs videos and more!

-Enjoy the process, because it's finally HERE!


I know there are SO many more things but these are the main things to do for now.

You should see me smiling right now. I'M LIVING THE DREAM I NEVER THOUGHT I'D GET TO DO.

I'm not saying it's been easy, but it feels so good to be on the other side of all of the doubt. I'm sure I'll doubt some more along the way, but I'm more sure now than when I first started! :)

Not to go too deep here but what is holding you back from your dream? No time? Kids? Fear? Doubt? Lack of self-confidence? Not feeling good enough? --- Can I just reassure you, you can do it DESPITE all of those things, I know this because I did. It might mean early mornings, late nights, LOTS of coffee, frustration, plans that don't go the way YOU plan, interruptions, doubting yourself 500 times, crying (lots of crying in my case), smiling in videos where you feel like everything is going wrong because your kids don't want to be in your video (OH that's just me haha), BUT it's worth the blood, sweat, broken plans, fake smiles & tears. You'll be stronger because of that grueling process and by the time you're supposed to do something bigger, you'll already be prepared for it. So don't let anything hold you back. Don't let your fears stop you because actually, they'll only make you better when you face them head on.

Noisetrade, The "Mom Life" Music Video & Conquering Fears.

I am ALL about being open and honest about my "process" as a musician, mom & person. If you follow me on social media, you know that to be true. :) I hope that my transparency helps someone else in their process & helps you to know you're not alone!

So here's my process these last few weeks..

Last week I started a mini Fundraiser on www.noisetrade.com/heatherevansmusic to help raise some money to market "The Life EP". I'm selling "Songs for Healing" for $6 or donation of people's choice, to hopefully make the extra money I need to get "The Life EP where it needs to go.

Up to this point I had been self sufficient, paying for recording & a music video on my own, but I realized I needed some help! I didn't have a dime to actually make copies of the EP, merch & all the ways you need to pay for ADs on social media to widen your reach as an artist &so many other little things. If you're an indie musician, you know how quickly the costs can mount! I also want to make another music video for "20 Years From Now", a song that always hits people's hearts when I play it live. One of my goals with music is to have the music fund the music, & to never draw from our personal money, because we don't have a lot of extra.

In my heart of hearts, I REALLY want to do this EP right. In the past I've released albums, but I've never had a real marketing plan behind them. They each had mini successes, but it had nothing to do with marketing, just random luck really. This time around, I have a solid marketing plan, know what I want, & I know it's going to go places!! I'm dreaming BIG &it's exciting AND extremely SCARY at the same time!

So, I felt sort of embarrassed & discouraged when no one responded to the post about the Noisetrade Fundraiser at first. Fear rose up in my heart, "is this going to work? What if no one likes my music? Who am I to think I could do what I'm planning to do?" I even broke down  cried on a FB Live when I expressed my heart for this project & just longing for someone to believe in me.

I prayed, cried and God got to work. Right after I prayed, I got an Email from Noisetrade asking if I wanted to be featured in the "New & Noteable" section of their website & featured in their newsletter. They have a reach of 1.7 million listeners! What a PERFECT opportunity to build my reach right before "The Life EP" release! The Noisetrade Feature is happening on August 14th and my husband Brett captured some stunning promo photos for it! Can't wait to see what happens when the Feature runs!

Later that night I checked my Noisetrade Fundraiser status & I'd raised $100 in ONE DAY! Not only that but people were texting me & messaging me about how they were connecting to the "Songs for Healing" EP.

Talk about a humbling experience! I hate that I let fear corner me sometimes. I KNOW I'm supposed to dream big for this project, but I let fear tell me otherwise! I forget what The Lord has spoken to me so quick!

To ensure I wouldn't forget anymore, I made a DREAM WALL. My dream wall is there so that in moments of fear and doubt, I can look at what my community says about me, inspirational quotes, song lyrics, pictures, the words I feel like I've gotten from God about this project, My hopes, and my dreams for it. It's amazing to see everyday & gives me courage!

This weekend, Pete King is helping me shoot the "Mom Life" Music Video! I'm hustling this week getting my house cleaned, because we are filming it at my house! It will be a pretty realistic depiction of a "day in the life" of being a momma! I'm so stoked about that. My worlds of being a mom to 2 kiddies and being a musician are colliding!

My friend Ali Gattison, did an amazing job "styling" me in some Lularoe outfits for the Music Video! I had a blast trying everything on & I love how mix & match everything was. Here's a little peek at what she picked out for me, but you'll have to wait to see which one I chose! :)

ONE LAST THING! I'm diving into the world of Email newsletters! I plan on sharing fun life updates and EXCLUSIVE songs & videos with just my "Adventures with Heather newsletter" subscribers! The Journey is about to get exciting, so now is the perfect time to join! If you'd like to join, sign up below!

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